Industry heavyweights appointed to 4IR commission

Industry heavyweights appointed to 4IR commission

The Presidency has announced the list of those appointed to serve on the Presidential Commission on the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).

The 30-member commission includes Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, founder and chairman of Convergence Partners Andile Ngcaba, Cisco's Charmaine Houvet, and MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela, to name a few.

In a statement, the Presidency says the commission members are from different sectors of society and reflect a balance in gender, youth, labour and business, including digital start-ups as well as digital entrepreneurships.

The 4IR commission is the initiative driven by president Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure SA effectively harnesses rapid advances in ICT for inclusive growth and social development.

Ramaphosa first announced what he then called the Digital Industrial Revolution Commission during last year's State of the Nation Address, noting it will aim to coordinate the development of SA's national response through a comprehensive action plan to deal with Industry 4.0.

The Presidency reiterates the commission's mandate is to "assist government in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital industrial revolution".

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Ramaphosa will chair the commission, and operational support will be provided by a secretariat of officials of various national departments, led by the Department of Communications.

"Communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, who is the coordinator of government's 4IR programme, is due to convene an induction session with appointed commissioners, after which the commission will have its inaugural meeting with the president," says the Presidency statement.

Speaking at the State IT Agency's GovTech and National Development Plan 2030 hackathon launch event earlier today, Ndabeni-Abrahams confirmed the appointed members were gazetted today. "We had to undergo security clearance for all those that were short-listed, and we will be presenting them on Thursday."